Chevrolet Venture Heating / Cooling

Comments

correct...now you have to take apart the air box as there's probably a bunch of stuff stopping it up...auto zone has a pretty good repair manual for the venture on line, you can check there to see how to take the whole thing apart to get to it. Look in the section under heating & cooling & look at the instructions for the heater core. If you can get to the heater core, you can get to all of the goop that's plugging up your drain...

My 97 Venture has 3 control knobs for A/C & heat - fan, temp, & directional. One of the knobs is broken, and one is not long for this world - I have repaired both of them once with a plastic tie-wrap. I thought my fix was fairly ingenious - they both held for a year or two. One is now beyond "rigging" at this point, and I can't find those little jewels online. Or - I just haven't found the correct search terms. I see a reference to an online repair manual at auto zone above. I shall try that next.

If someone could point me in the right direction to find replacement knobs, we have to drive this van til the wheels fall off. And wifey is getting a bit testy about having to pull one knob off and put it on the other post just to change the airflow.

I too had the problem with the blower. The difference was that settings 1 and 2 did not work. The others did. John, on your very informative direction, I tested the settings and found out that the switch was good. I have had this problem for perhaps two years now and I was totally dreading pulling the console apart to replace a switch. It turns out that would have been fruitless as I would have had to replace seemingly half the console. Anyways I pulled out the resistor and though I did not take pictures, it looked far worse than those in the other post. At least a 1/4 of the green coating had flaked off on both sides. There were a couple of scorch marks on the circuit board where the coating had flaked off. The new resistor had a much more substantial protective coating on it than the last one. I just wanted to thank you for you helpful and selfless information without which I would have been having to pay substantially more to have this fixed. I know this is over a year after you posted the previous entries on this.

Just one other note. I did inspect the blower housing. The metal between the blower cage and the motor had some light rust and corrosion on it. I am fairly certain that the cause of all this is the too lightly protected resistor coming in contact with moisture for a period of time. Hopefully, this new card has no problems as it is much more substantially protected. Thanks again, John.

My A/C is not cooling in the front or rear. While it is definitely not hot at this time, I was hoping to try and fix it before it did get hot. It quit working late last summer. I was wondering what the easiest way was to tell how the compressor is even getting any power at all. I do not hear the customary "clink" of the compressor kicking in nor hear the accompanying extra strain on the engine. I have checked all the fuses and they were good. Thanks in advance.

I haven't had any problems since and you're right, the new one did look much better designed than the one it replaced. Here's to hoping that neither one of us have to contort ourselves again to reach and replace that thing...

There's a low pressure switch on the system that monitors the pressure of your refrigerant - when it indicates that the refrigerant is below a certain pressure, it disables the compressor. I'd bet that you might have a refrigerant leak and your system needs to be checked and recharged. There is also a low temperature shutoff programmed in the system which keeps it from turning on when the outside temp is below 32F but since you started having trouble last summer I'm thinking that's not why its not turning on.

If you're not hearing the "clink" of the compressor clutch, chances are its not getting any power. A mechanic can hook up a scanner and see if the computer is commanding the compressor to turn on or if its inhibiting it for some reason. He'll also check the system pressure to see if that's the reason.

Alternately - you could check in the compressor area to so if by chance that the electrical connection has come loose or off - its not likely but it does happen. But I'm guessing that your system is low on refrigerant due to a leak.

Well, I added 25 Oz of R134A and the A/C started working. I could hear the compressor clutch engage and the added load on the engine. However, two vents, one on either side of the driver, still blow warm air. This happens despite the fact all other vents are blowing cold air. Any ideas?

I am double posting this because I did not do it as a reply the first time.

Well, I added 25 Oz of R134A and the A/C started working. I could hear the compressor clutch engage and the added load on the engine. However, two vents, one on either side of the driver, still blow warm air. This happens despite the fact all other vents are blowing cold air. Any ideas?

I'm no AC expert by any stretch...I even checked and couldn't find a technical service bulletin from GM in the factory service manual about that problem.

I'm pretty sure that the center vents are all fed by one duct so all 3 of them should be either warm or cold...

Check your ducts & make sure they're where they belong, maybe you knocked one loose/off when you were replacing the blower resistor. Also, there's a vacuum line that runs right near the blower and out through the firewall to under the hood - trace it back to the controls and make sure its not pinched or damaged, then start the car and make sure you're getting good vacuum through it - I had to replace mine because it got clogged - I'm pretty sure the actuator door is vacuum operated on the Venture.

Also, check the temps of the different ducts with a thermometer to make sure your hand isn't playing tricks on you - that's why I'm thinking that a duct fell off under the dash as your hand will perceive a cooler temperature when there is more air moving over it. Also, check the temp in your defroster duct.

I wish I could be more help - I really don't know too much about AC systems...at this point I think I've shared most of what I know with you...

no heat or a/c first, then temp. gauge went up and down erraticly, then went to hot and stayed there, engine started chugging and wanted to die, would not go over 15 mph. fluids and thermostat good, new water pump and temp. sensor

i am having the exact same problem, it blows super cold on the passenger side vents and blows out warm on the driver side vents. i have checked all the vacuum lines and nothing. i even took out the filters and it did help with airflow but that was it.

My A/C problems now appear to be fixed. I had to take my Venture in for a transmission flush. Some of the shifting it was doing was pretty jerky. Since I had it in the shop, I asked them to check my A/C system for leaks. They did not listen very well. When they were done, they had simply added another 2 lbs of refrigerant and some dye. They said if it leaked now that they would be able to identify where. Jeez, no kidding. I asked to check for leaks and they ad refrigerant. Anyway, that A/C is darn near cold enough now to make ice cubes. When I had last added refrigerant myself, my cheapo gauge said the pressure was a little high. Then when the A/C seemed to quit working the next day, the gauge said the pressure was too low. Of course I thought I had a leak in the system then. Well, after having the shop add another 2 lbs of refrigerant and everything still working great as of today, I now feel it was simply a matter of a cheap gauge AND the A/C system needing to be evacuated and then recharged. If you are getting the same hot/cold symptoms I was, I'd bet that you need the same thing - evacuation and recharge. It is not the cheapest thing, but the A/C is working great now.

Does anybody know of a cost effective way a person can evacuate their A/C system and then recharging it yourself?

I have a 2000 Chevy Venture. At first I was rather well impressed by the air conditioning system. It worked and it seems to have worked quite well. In Florida, this is a much appreciated feature!After a while the AC seemed to get weak. One mechani re-charged it. Yet its never really worked anywhere near as well as it did before. Its set on taking outside air and cooling it. Would recirculating the air make more sense?Its not that cool air is not coming out of the vents. It is. But its cool air rather than cold air. And it seems to be less strong a breeze even if I have the fan set at 5, its highest position.What items should I check to see why I'm getting only cool rather than cold air being blown out of the vents.

Did u ever get any answers as to why your a/c wasn't working well - mine doesn't get as cold - and it doesn't blow as hard - i'm about to have some freon put in it, but i've also noticed water in my front 2 floor-boards (soaked thru carpet) in conjunction with running the the a/c for long periods of time - which is unavoidable in the SE during the summer....

Your floor boards are wet due to a pinched drain hose. More times than not you need to replace the hose. It is a flimsy hose that kinks easily. I have had this problem several times and it goes away when the hose is unlinked/replpaced. Good Luck.

2002 chevy venture AC drain water LEAKS into passenger feet area under carpeting.How did you solve it. i blew backwards with a tight blower nozzle connection into the Ac drain (short little tube that drained behind the engine just below the alternator. no water came out and the van was sitting on a level garage floor.

Did anyone solve the problem without taking the entire a/c plenum apart and clean out muck ?

I can't imagine there is a pinched hose or where it might be, I blew air into the drain hose coming out of the a/c box behind the engien jsut below the alternator. what di you find and how did you fix it ?

2002 chevy venture AC drain water LEAKS into passenger feet area under carpeting.How did you solve it. i blew backwards with a tight blower nozzle connection into the Ac drain (short little tube that draind behind the engine just below the alternator. no water came out and the van was sitting on a level garage floor.

Did anyone solve the problem without taking the entire a/c plenum apart and clean out muck ?

I had my intake gasket replaced.. When I took my 2000 Venture in last year, the air was working fine, Ice cold, but when I got it back, nothing.. just hot air blowing.. Does anyone have any ideas as to how this happened?

I have the same problem with my 99 olds silhouette. The drain tube no longer, or never did, extend through the firewall. This summer, with more than usual use of the A./C we found the pooling water in the passenger footwell. But this problem has obviously been there a long time as wires are rotten and footwell is rusty.

I tried to get some help from GM to no avail.

I need to somehow get the tube to extend back through the firewall so that the water drips into the engine compartment and not into the cabin

all the sister chevy Venture, Silhoutte, Montana have a rigid box that contains the evaporator ( little radiator) that gets cold and the air blows thru it to A/C (cool) the inside air. (it is major leauge buried up in the dash)

On the bootom of this box is a molded in plastic rigid tube that extends through the sheet metal body and the rigid tube runs into the engine area & it's suppose to drain out any water into the engine compartment kind of behind the alternator.

i have a junk yard by me and if the engine is out. then the tube is very visible,,it's not flexible and almost impossible to damage or misroute of have it fall of or something ( unles it's a nasty smash up. likley total the VAN).I basically learned that it's likley that some of the prtoective non absorbant foam stuff might have moved /shifted and may be clogging the outlet tibe hole so that the water doesn't drain out.

If you know how to add pictures to this site PLS let me know how to do it, i took a few with cell phone that shows a cut away.from a junk yard vechicle.I am looking at likley adding a hole on the drivers side of the box not to bad to get at that side, and then add a barbed fitting that i will silicone to the box and attach a hose that i will run down thru th body via a drill bit about3/8 th inch dia in the firewall( sheet metal in front of your feet) so the water can drain. I will also add a couple of holes below the carpeting to drain at least some of the water if it gets in there

to get at the condensor box looks like taking the entire dash out. I got to the heater core and can remove it if needed, if i could acess the A/c condensor then i would HOWEVER it looks like to get to it means removing the entire dash. It looks like a job in itself ( failry major thing to do)

I solved the problem of water leaking inside on my 2001 Pontiac Montana by adding a PVC elbow to the short plastic drain sticking straight out through the firewall. A deteriorated seal behind the firewall allows the water to run back the drain spout and inside the vehicle. I inserted a short piece of 5/8 " heater hose in the 3/4" PC elbow to make it fit on the drain spout and added caulking at the back to prevent any water entering the firewall. This was done from under the vehicle. It's tricky but doable with patience. Of course you could rotate the engine forward and have better access to the drain.

Local garage tells me to replace a radiator in 2001 Venture they need to empty AC unit because the rad comes out thru the front, so evaporator needs to be removed. Is this correct? Can it be removed from the back after removal of top engine mount brackets, air box and fans? I know tranny lines go thru the rad but that&#146;s no problem.Rad leaks to near the drain plug area. I am hoping that this is a drain plug o-ring and not the rad end seal. I do not have towing package, so this is just a regular van.I also need to replace thermostat. Do I need any special tools for that or after removal of throttle body assembly and heat shield I can get to the bottom bolt? This is insane design to place thermostat like this.The van is not worth as much as they wanted to charge me for both of these jobs.

I have a 2003 chevy venture, when on heat it has little air flow from dash vents but blows strong on defrost or when on AC. Sounds like there is a damper partially open preventing air flow. What is the most likely cause.

I have a 1999 chevy venture there is no heat in front just blowing cold air but the rear heat works just fine .Would like to know if someone could help me with this problem as I really cant afford a mechanic.